The present invention relates generally to presaturated wiper products utilized in various industrial and manufacturing situations. More particularly, the present invention relates to improvements in the storage and dispensing of presaturated wiper sheets.
Presaturated wiper sheets are beginning to enjoy more widespread usage in many industrial and manufacturing situations. Often, tasks that were previously performed using loose rags and separately stored can now be performed more economically using a presaturated wiper system. For example, each of the presaturated wipers will carry a more optimized amount of solvent than a loose rag saturated with separate solvent, thus leading to less solvent waste.
In the past, wiper systems have been provided in which a reusable wiper dispenser can be refilled with a fresh supply of wiper sheets when a previous supply has been exhausted. One such system uses a tub having a base and a removable lid. Refill wiper rolls are maintained in a foil package until use. The rolls are configured as a continuous length of wiper sheets connected together by perforations, thus permitting individual sheets to be separated when desired. After the roll is placed in the dispenser, sheets are removed by pulling them through an aperture in the lid. The lid includes a cap element that may be closed to cover the aperture between pulls, i.e., times when a sheet is being withdrawn.
While this prior art system works generally well for its intended purpose, some room for improvement exists. For example, the lid aperture of the prior art system is relatively shallow. As such, the portion of the leading sheet extending through the aperture between pulls must be very short. For example, a longer portion may undesirably interfere with closing of the cap element. A short portion, however, can be difficult to grasp by an industrial worker, particularly if the worker is wearing glove. In addition, a gloved worker may find it difficult to open the cap element when desired.